Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle - McMaster Faculty of Social ...
Nicomachean
Ethics
Aristotle
Translated by W. D. Ross
Batoche Books
Kitchener
1999
Contents
BOOK I ....................................................................... 3
BOOK II ................................................................... 20
BOOK III .................................................................. 33
BOOK IV .................................................................. 53
BOOK V ................................................................... 71
BOOK VI .................................................................. 91
BOOK VII............................................................... 105
BOOK VIII ............................................................. 127
BOOK IX ................................................................ 145
BOOK X ................................................................. 163
BOOK I
1
Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is
thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly
been declared to be that at which all things aim. But a certain difference
is found among ends; some are activities, others are products apart from
the activities that produce them. Where there are ends apart from the
actions, it is the nature of the products to be better than the activities.
Now, as there are many actions, arts, and sciences, their ends also are
many; the end of the medical art is health, that of shipbuilding a vessel,
that of strategy victory, that of economics wealth. But where such arts
fall under a single capacity¡ªas bridle-making and the other arts concerned with the equipment of horses fall under the art of riding, and this
and every military action under strategy, in the same way other arts fall
under yet others¡ªin all of these the ends of the master arts are to be
preferred to all the subordinate ends; for it is for the sake of the former
that the latter are pursued. It makes no difference whether the activities
themselves are the ends of the actions, or something else apart from the
activities, as in the case of the sciences just mentioned.
2
If, then, there is some end of the things we do, which we desire for its
own sake (everything else being desired for the sake of this), and if we
do not choose everything for the sake of something else (for at that rate
the process would go on to infinity, so that our desire would be empty
and vain), clearly this must be the good and the chief good. Will not the
knowledge of it, then, have a great influence on life? Shall we not, like
4/Aristotle
archers who have a mark to aim at, be more likely to hit upon what is
right? If so, we must try, in outline at least, to determine what it is, and
of which of the sciences or capacities it is the object. It would seem to
belong to the most authoritative art and that which is most truly the
master art. And politics appears to be of this nature; for it is this that
ordains which of the sciences should be studied in a state, and which
each class of citizens should learn and up to what point they should
learn them; and we see even the most highly esteemed of capacities to
fall under this, e.g., strategy, economics, rhetoric; now, since politics
uses the rest of the sciences, and since, again, it legislates as to what we
are to do and what we are to abstain from, the end of this science must
include those of the others, so that this end must be the good for man.
For even if the end is the same for a single man and for a state, that of
the state seems at all events something greater and more complete whether
to attain or to preserve; though it is worth while to attain the end merely
for one man, it is finer and more godlike to attain it for a nation or for
city-states. These, then, are the ends at which our inquiry aims, since it
is political science, in one sense of that term.
3
Our discussion will be adequate if it has as much clearness as the subject-matter admits of, for precision is not to be sought for alike in all
discussions, any more than in all the products of the crafts. Now fine
and just actions, which political science investigates, admit of much
variety and fluctuation of opinion, so that they may be thought to exist
only by convention, and not by nature. And goods also give rise to a
similar fluctuation because they bring harm to many people; for before
now men have been undone by reason of their wealth, and others by
reason of their courage. We must be content, then, in speaking of such
subjects and with such premisses to indicate the truth roughly and in
outline, and in speaking about things which are only for the most part
true and with premisses of the same kind to reach conclusions that are
no better. In the same spirit, therefore, should each type of statement be
received; for it is the mark of an educated man to look for precision in
each class of things just so far as the nature of the subject admits; it is
evidently equally foolish to accept probable reasoning from a mathematician and to demand from a rhetorician scientific proofs.
Now each man judges well the things he knows, and of these he is a
good judge. And so the man who has been educated in a subject is a
Nicomachean Ethics/5
good judge of that subject, and the man who has received an all-round
education is a good judge in general. Hence a young man is not a proper
hearer of lectures on political science; for he is inexperienced in the
actions that occur in life, but its discussions start from these and are
about these; and, further, since he tends to follow his passions, his study
will be vain and unprofitable, because the end aimed at is not knowledge
but action. And it makes no difference whether he is young in years or
youthful in character; the defect does not depend on time, but on his
living, and pursuing each successive object, as passion directs. For to
such persons, as to the incontinent, knowledge brings no profit; but to
those who desire and act in accordance with a rational principle knowledge about such matters will be of great benefit.
These remarks about the student, the sort of treatment to be expected, and the purpose of the inquiry, may be taken as our preface.
4
Let us resume our inquiry and state, in view of the fact that all knowledge and every pursuit aims at some good, what it is that we say political science aims at and what is the highest of all goods achievable by
action. Verbally there is very general agreement; for both the general
run of men and people of superior refinement say that it is happiness,
and identify living well and doing well with being happy; but with regard to what happiness is they differ, and the many do not give the same
account as the wise. For the former think it is some plain and obvious
thing, like pleasure, wealth, or honour; they differ, however, from one
another¡ªand often even the same man identifies it with different things,
with health when he is ill, with wealth when he is poor; but, conscious of
their ignorance, they admire those who proclaim some great ideal that is
above their comprehension. Now some thought that apart from these
many goods there is another which is self-subsistent and causes the goodness of all these as well. To examine all the opinions that have been held
were perhaps somewhat fruitless; enough to examine those that are most
prevalent or that seem to be arguable.
Let us not fail to notice, however, that there is a difference between
arguments from and those to the first principles. For Plato, too, was
right in raising this question and asking, as he used to do, ¡®are we on the
way from or to the first principles?¡¯ There is a difference, as there is in
a race-course between the course from the judges to the turning-point
and the way back. For, while we must begin with what is known, things
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